Many work activities require use of products for protection and/or health of a worker's hands and/or for safe performance of work activities. Such hand products include hand hygiene products to prevent spread of contamination or disease, pre-work or barrier creams to protect hands, hand washing products, skin care products to maintain skin health and prevent occupational dermatitis and gloves for hand protection. The invention concerns determining the compliance by workers with best practices for hand product use.
Hand hygiene is essential for certain activities and services, including particularly healthcare and food preparation and service. For healthcare providers, the spread of healthcare acquired infections also known as HAI's has been an ever increasing challenge in healthcare facilities. HAIs can result from transmission of bacteria, viruses and other disease causing micro-organisms from various sources such as a patient or environmental surfaces to another patient or surface via the hands of healthcare workers. Such transmission can result in an infection of a patient who was previously not infected. Health care facilities have battled MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and VRSA (vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and other drug resistant micro-organisms for many years. These problems have been more apparent in recent years. It is estimated that approximately 2,000,000 such HAIs occur annually in the U.S. alone resulting in about 100,000 deaths. The extra costs associated with these infections are estimated in the billions of dollars.
Healthcare institutions seek to prevent and control the spread of HAIs. One important aspect of such efforts is seeking to ensure that health care professionals comply with hand hygiene best practices. Hand hygiene can be accomplished by washing hands with soap and water and by using liquids such as a sanitizing product which does not require water or rinsing of the product.
Hand hygiene is also recognized as essential in the food industry to prevent the spread of foodborne bacteria and/or viruses including Norovirus, the Hepatitis A virus, Salmonella Typhi, Shigella spp., and Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 or other Enterohemorrhagic or Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp. and Streptococcus pyogenes. Hand washing by food employees is essential after activities that contaminate hands and before activities during which pathogens may be spread to food.
Exposure to harmful substances in work environments may lead to irritant or allergic contact dermatitis. Continuous wet working conditions may also lead to dermatitis. The cost of occupational dermatitis is difficult to estimate but is clearly substantial both in lost productivity and treatment. Blankiforti, L., Economic Burden of Dermatitis in US Workers, 52 JOEM No. 11 1045-54 (2010). Skin care products can maintain and improve hand health in such work environments. Pre-work protective or barrier creams are used and have been shown to improve hand health in manufacturing environments in which workers contact certain lubricants. Kütting, B; Baumeiseter, T; Weistenhöfer, W. Pfahlbert, A.; Uter, W. and Drexler, H., Effectiveness of skin protection measures in prevention of occupational hand eczema, British Journal of Dermatology (2009). Moisturizers are also recommended after exposure. While concerns based on occupational dermatitis are recognized as well as the potential for skin products to provide cost effective protection, recommendations for effective products for work environments have not been developed. Terhaer, F.; Bock, M.; Fartasch, M.; Gabard, B.; Elsner, P.; Kleesz, P; Landeck, L.; Pohrt, U.; Seyfarth, F.; Schliemann, S.; Diepgen, T; Zagrodnik, F.; and John, S., Safety, effectiveness and comparability of professional skin cleansers, JDDG 1610-0379, (2010).
Certain activities require use of gloves for worker protection, safe performance of work activities, or both. Exposure to harmful substances such as cleansers may require use of gloves by workers. Examples in healthcare include use of sterile gloves for surgical and certain other invasive procedures on patients. Examination gloves are indicated for direct or indirect patient contact.
One or all of worker safety, worker health and effective performance are enhanced by compliance with recommended best practices for using hand products. Recommended best practices may be based in any source. Institutions may develop recommended practices based on activities in the institution and on experience within the institution. Industry or professional associations may develop best practices that are recommended within the industry or profession. Governmental and international organizations may develop recommended practices for activities of wide concern such as those related to food safety and healthcare.
Identification of a benchmark for hand product use is an essential step in determining whether recommended practices are followed in a facility. Hand hygiene best practices may be the basis for identifying a benchmark number of hand hygiene activities that are consistent with the recommended practice. Similarly, healthcare glove use recommendations may provide the basis for the benchmark number of gloves that should be used. Benchmarks for use of pre-work creams or skin care products may also be determined based on recommended best practices. A recommended best practice may provide a benchmark based on occurrences within a facility. For example, use of gloves may indicate a need for hand hygiene or a number of cleanser uses may provide a benchmark for use of hand skin care products.